Doing the bare minimum

I've been doing technical work for a company for about three years. It's like a part time job, but I'm a contractor (my choice). This small company was purchased by a gigantic company and my job will be gone, most likely by July.

Managers from the gigantic company pretend we will have jobs after the integration, but I know this is not true. Their lying contributes to my 'this won't be my problem in six months, let them deal with it' attitude. Plus, anything I do now will be trashed when the small company moves to the large company's systems.

Is it wrong to do the bare minimum until I move on or my role is eliminated? I've been working on personal projects during downtime lately. It seems like there is no point in making any upgrades or changes when we will be moving off this platform entirely in a few months.

Wow - what a spot to be in. I always enjoy job more when I'm giving my best but I can see how the motivation wouldn't be there. Anyway, can you use your waning time there to both do a good job but learn something new, even if it isn't major? I don't know, maybe just showing up and doing a reasonable job is all that is necessary. I'm sure you've already thought of this but you may/will want to use them as a reference if you don't go with the new firm who purchased your current company so keeping up the 'effort' might be worth it just for that.

Tough one ... best wishes.

I kind of agree that doing the bare minimum may be suspect, but maybe doing work that is good enough is fine here. I mean, why go the extra mile when you know they are just going to sack you? But you don't want to do any work that reflects poorly on you.

It's awkward. Up until now, I've always had a side project or four, some significant upgrade in the works... but those days are gone. Normally I would be planning for next year's hardware refresh right now... but there won't be one.

So right now, I'm just putting out fires and supporting the current infrastructure. That's what I mean by bare minimum. It feels weird, but that's all there is for me to do. No point in planning for improvements. One day we will flip a switch and go from our system to their system.

I've told the parent company I don't want to work for them. They will lay off all the local administrative staff and managers anyway, so there will be plenty of people willing to provide good references!

Some days are very busy, but if no one is asking for my help, I have nothing to do. I am working on programming projects that improve my skills but they don't have anything to do with this company.

I guess a responsible career minded person would be aggressively looking for another job. I'm kind of hoping I can hang on for another few months and take the summer off...

Well then, it sounds like you have a plan ... hang on and take the summer off. Nothing wrong with that IF you aren't feeling guilty or 'less than' or something self-depreciating thinking that sucks the life out of you. But that last line you wrote is a telling ... "a responsible career minded person would be looking for another job" so it sounds like what you are really struggling with is guilt about not looking for another job??

Here is the thing: if your plan fits your lifestyle and budget then you aren't hurting anyone and there isn't a problem with doing the job 'good enough' (and there isn't given what you've described here), showing up, doing the job decently, collecting your pay and looking forward to some time off! Someone with the integrity to want to be a good employee like you will find a job when the time feels right.

Oooh, good point - I think you are right and it's feeling like I am not making a responsible choice that's bothering me... and also feeling guilty that I am not working very hard... and wondering about how much I have damaged my career options by repeatedly making lazy choices like this over the past ten years... oh well!

I'm in good company. I talked to two coworkers yesterday. One is taking my approach, doing what she has to and nothing more, actively looking but not aggressively. The other says she will still make things better where she can as you never know, not looking at all because she wants the summer off

Glad you've got some insight and you don't feel alone in your dilemma :-)

I still think that doing your best will benefit you. You want a good reference when you apply to other jobs. It might feel good today to give your employer an attitude, but it will work against you tomorrow.